Dollar Bill

what do you remember about things when you first purchase them? the way it looks in your eyes? they way it feels in your hands? how about the way something brand new to you smells? that's an unusual trait, but sometimes i can think back on something and recall the exact way something smells... my first new car, our high school locker room, the first cd i purchased.

that's right, i can recall exact smell of the first cd i bought, sweet oblivion by screaming trees. i opened that plastic packaging in the fall on 1992, and the smell of the paper liner notes, plastic case and metallic disk instantly became a perminant fixure in my memory bank. see, it was more than just a new cd to me, it was a new era of enjoyment, purchased for a reasonable price at the now defunct smash hit music on san pedro. like i said, i remember weird things. i recall listening to that cd over and over again, and being amazed at the simplicity of being able to change tracks, rewind, fast foward, pause, stop, etc.

but more than that, it signified a death of an era also... see, i was a big fan of the 'mix tape'. only, back BCD (before cd's), i had to transfer music from one tape to another, or even worse, from the radio to tape. i had an entire desk drawer full of mix tapes that i had made, edited, labeled, etc. and with the horrible inaccuracies of tape and radio, there were always little portions of songs clipped off, dj's talking over the beginning or ends of songs, etc. suddenly, with the purchase of one cd, all the guess work was a thing of the past. now i knew exactly when to press play, pause, record, stop, etc. suddenly, i was a master!

by the way, that album is still one of my favorite cd's, so i'm glad i made a wise decision with my first purchase. there's one song in particular that i really enjoy over all the others, track 3, dollar bill. i don't know exactly what it is about this song, but it always seems to take me back to a simplier time, an easier time, a time when my biggest concern was "are there anymore blank tapes?"...





torn like an old dollar bill
girl let them say what they will
that no one should hurt you
and that's all i seem to do
that no one should desert you
and that's all i seem to do

a got to tell you, goodbye mama
we've taken this too far
been trying to tell you what's going on
trying to make it easy on you
trying to make it better
make it easier on you
it's all i came to do
it's all i came to do

now i'm down in the light
and i must be dreaming it
cause i see clearly, i see angels here
bringing something to me, mother mercy

i told a lie, i didn't mean it
goodbye mama, i've taken this too far
been gone a while
been gone a long way, oh yeah

i don't want to hurt you
it's all i seem to do
don't want to desert you
it's all i seem to do

i got to tell you, goodbye mama
i've taken this too far
been down a while
been down a long way
trying to make it easy on you
trying to make it better
make it easier on you
it's all i came to do
it's all i came to do
it's all i came to do
that's all...
been down a long
been down a long, long way

torn like an old dollar bill